A comparison of aggregation methods for measures of economic freedom

Empiricists have used various editions of an economic freedom index (EFI) initially developed by Gwartney et al. (1996) [Gwartney, J., Lawson, R., Block, W., 1996. Economic Freedom of the World: 1975–1995. Fraser Institute, Vancouver.] to examine the relationship between economic freedom and other socio-economic variables, such as growth or investment. The EFI quantifies the level of particular institutional characteristics thought to promote economic freedom and aggregates them into a single index value. The aggregation procedures utilized by Gwartney and Lawson in developing their index have changed over time and other scholars have promoted alternative methods. We examine several index aggregation procedures and show that each design may have potential methodological flaws that can greatly affect the empirical findings. D 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. JEL classification: C82; O57; D63